1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for navigating displayed elements, such as screen elements associated with a graphical user interface.
2. Background Art
Many devices are arranged to present or display one or more elements to a user. For example, one or more icons or windows of a graphical user interface may be displayed on a video display of a computer.
It is often necessary for the user of the device to select among these "displayed elements." For example, where multiple icons are displayed on a video display associated with a computer, a user may be required to select a particular icon to initiate an application.
Some devices include a pointing apparatus, sensor or other input arrangement which permits the user to indicate precisely a displayed element on the video screen, regardless of the positions of or order of the displayed elements. Such an apparatus commonly comprises a mouse which the user manipulates by hand to move a displayed curser or arrow. The user moves the mouse to direct the displayed arrow into a position in which it is displayed over or in contact with the displayed element. This alone or in combination with another action, such as clicking a mouse button or pressing a keyboard key, may effectuate selection of a particular displayed element. The selection of a displayed element may be visually confirmed for the user's benefit, such as by changing the color of the displayed element, highlighting it or the like. The display may also comprise a touch sensitive screen by which the user selects a displayed element simply by pointing to it.
Some devices do not have an input arrangement as described above. For example, a computer may not include a mouse. It may also be desirable to navigate among displayed elements in an alternate fashion even when the device includes such an input arrangement. As an example, a user may wish to utilize a keyboard to navigate displayed elements on a video display instead of using an attached mouse.
Devices which utilize a television as an associated display often do not have such an input arrangement either. For example, video tape players and world wide web (WWW) television display devices commonly do not include a pointing device such as a mouse or any other input arrangement which permits a user to directly "pick" a menu item, icon or the like.
In these situations, the user is provided with some other input device with which the user must navigate the displayed elements. This input device may comprise the "arrow" keys of a keyboard or remote control. A problem with these types of input devices is that they do not provide a user complete control over the selection process. Instead, a user enters a discrete control input, such as by pressing a left arrow button, and the device must determine what displayed element should be selected in response to that input. Unlike the pointing input arrangements described above, in this type of navigation arrangement multiple user-inputs may be required to navigate to a particular displayed element, with the ability of the user to select a particular displayed element dependent upon the user's navigating a path through other displayed elements.
The navigation or traversal of displayed elements in response to various keystrokes is often not predictable. Thus, for a user to select a particular displayed element, the user may need to input a keystroke, assess the result of the input, then input another keystroke and the like until the desired display element is ultimately selected. This process can be time consuming and frustration for a user. In some instances, numerous keystrokes by a user may never even result in the selection of the desired display element.
A need exists for an improved navigation system for displayed elements.